Personal Bragging: My 50th Half-Marathon

[Rain Man]

Last Saturday's race (in 42 degree temps in the rain, I might add) was my 50th half-marathon since I started my hobby in June of 2009.

My vital statistics are:

Completed races in 12 states so far (AK, HI, CA, NV, UT, WY, CO, TX, LA, FL, OH, and WI)

Median pace = 10:15 per mile
Median pace in flat, sea level races =9:37 per mile
Fastest pace = 9:04 per mile (Beaumont, TX - flat and sea level)
Slowest pace = 29:36 per mile (Pike's Peak Ascent - 7,800 foot climb from 6,300 ft to 14,100 ft and I was not good at it.)

14 have been at elevations between sea level and 3,000 feet (Median pace = 9:52)
21 have been at elevations of 3,000 to 6,000 feet (Median pace = 10:06)
9 have been at elevations of 6,000 to 9,000 feet (Median pace = 11:08)
9 have been at elevations of 9,000 feet or higher (Median pace = 15:29)

26 have been more or less flat with total hills < 300 ft (Median pace = 9:50). Three were net downhill.
12 have had moderate hills with total hills of 301-1,000 ft (Median pace = 10:43)
6 have had strong hills with total hills of 1,001-2,500 ft (Median pace = 12:10)
9 have had major hills with total hills of 2,500 ft or more (Median pace = 15:29)

The 9 with major hills are the same 9 that were over 9,000 feet in elevation.

3 races were run in the rain and 1 in snow.

I've only fallen once, and it wasn't in the rain or snow. (Tripped on a trail rock.)

24 were primarily on pavement or asphalt
6 were primarily on dirt roads
20 were primarily on trails

I've gone the wrong way on trails 4 times but only twice did it for more than 30 seconds. The worst mistake added 3/4 of a mile.

I've also had 2 10-mile races and a 10K in there, so that's 53 races in 54 months.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

Anyone use the Stava app?

I just use the Nike app since I have a Nike GPS watch. Honestly, it's not impressive. It records my runs but offers no ability to analyze them or group them or anything else. All it does is upload the course/elevation and pace/time. I'd like to have something that would pull in the weather that day, and also give me the ability to identify things like top ten lists for various distances and analyze paces by things like weather, distance, and elevation changes. Anyone know of a GPS app that can do that?

[Rain Man]

I hadn't run a hard high-altitude race in a while, so today was the day. Here's the elevation profile:



I ran it in 3:37:39, which put me ahead of 31 percent of runners. It's a rough course. Miles 6 and 7 are just brutal: 27 minute pace for me in those two miles.

Here are my splits and times. Don't laugh unless you want to do it yourself.

Mile  Cumulative   1-mile   Altitude change
1     12:49    12'49"          +305ft
2     28:48     15'59"    +386ft
3     43:00     14'12"      +211ft
4      56:52    13'52"      +220ft
5    1:14:34    17'42"      +462ft
6    1:42:13    27'39"       +800ft
7     2:09:35    27'22"      +391ft
8     2:25:48     16'13"     -365ft
9     2:36:51    11'03"      -604ft
10     2:47:43    10'52"       -506ft
11      2:59:00    11'17"     -523ft
12       3:14:16    15'16"    -316ft
13      3:27:40     13'24"         -331ft

My watch measured it at 13.7 miles, so I don't have the last .7 mile split.

[TEX]

Congrats on 50!

[kepp]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I hadn't run a hard high-altitude race in a while, so today was the day. Here's the elevation profile:

That picture scares me.

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I hadn't run a hard high-altitude race in a while, so today was the day. Here's the elevation profile:



I ran it in 3:37:39, which put me ahead of 31 percent of runners. It's a rough course. Miles 6 and 7 are just brutal: 27 minute pace for me in those two miles.

Here are my splits and times. Don't laugh unless you want to do it yourself.

Mile  Cumulative   1-mile   Altitude change
1     12:49    12'49"          +305ft
2     28:48     15'59"    +386ft
3     43:00     14'12"      +211ft
4      56:52    13'52"      +220ft
5    1:14:34    17'42"      +462ft
6    1:42:13    27'39"       +800ft
7     2:09:35    27'22"      +391ft
8     2:25:48     16'13"     -365ft
9     2:36:51    11'03"      -604ft
10     2:47:43    10'52"       -506ft
11      2:59:00    11'17"     -523ft
12       3:14:16    15'16"    -316ft
13      3:27:40     13'24"         -331ft

My watch measure it at 13.6 miles, so I don't have the last .6 mile split.

Is this a trail or road course? Not laughing at all. Just hiking that elevation can be brutal. I can't imagine trying to run it.

[Marcellus]

That does not look fun. 800ft climb over a mile is no joke.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by The Bunk

Is this a trail or road course? Not laughing at all. Just hiking that elevation can be brutal. I can't imagine trying to run it.

It's mostly trail and jeep road. I'd say that perhaps 2/3 of it is pretty clean trail and 1/3 is relatively rough.

This woman did a video of it in a past year if you want to see the views from the top. They're pretty cool views. She didn't show much of the rougher trail, so maybe they were videoing more on the smooth parts.



This hard-breathing guy shows more of the rough trail. He ran the full marathon, but a fair amount of it is the same course:

[kepp]

And almost 3000' in 6.5 miles...at elevation. That's more than I want to do right now. I'd be hard pressed to find that much elevation change in 20 miles around here.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by kepp

And almost 3000' in 6.5 miles...at elevation. That's more than I want to do right now. I'd be hard pressed to find that much elevation change in 20 miles around here.

You're typically going a bit faster than I am, though.

There are some people who are insane runners out there. I ran a 3:37 and beat 31 percent of runners. The winner ran a 1:36, which was a course record. I have no idea how that's even possible. There are significant parts of the course where the trail is rough enough that you have to tread very carefully.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

That does not look fun. 800ft climb over a mile is no joke.

That part is nasty. I tried a new method this time of walking 80 steps, then stopping and catching my breath, then repeating for a full mile, in the hopes that I could make up time on the downhill. I'm really terrible at altitude.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That part is nasty. I tried a new method this time of walking 80 steps, then stopping and catching my breath, then repeating for a full mile, in the hopes that I could make up time on the downhill. I'm really terrible at altitude.

Everyone is really terrible above 10,000 feet. Strong work, RM!

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It's mostly trail and jeep road. I'd say that perhaps 2/3 of it is pretty clean trail and 1/3 is relatively rough.

This woman did a video of it in a past year if you want to see the views from the top. They're pretty cool views. She didn't show much of the rougher trail, so maybe they were videoing more on the smooth parts.



This hard-breathing guy shows more of the rough trail. He ran the full marathon, but a fair amount of it is the same course:

Very cool! I'd love to be able to do something like that, but I'm just not to that level yet. Congrats on completing it.

[Rain Man]

Today's race wasn't as tough as the Breck Crest, but it was on a deep gravel trail that was really inefficient. I personally saw more than 2 percent of finishers throwing up at the finish line (2 of 96).

It was notably warmer than expected, but Death Valley in December is actually pretty moderate.



My GPS shows a little more than 3,500 feet in elevation change counting the little hills. That seems really high given that it was kind of straight up and down. It's a new watch, so I need to figure it out. I assumed it would be closer to the 2,200 on the drawing.

My splits were:

Mile 1 - 12:40
Mile 2 - 13:49
Mile 3 - 15:44
Mile 4 - 15:21
Mile 5 - 14:53
Mile 6 - 15:08
Mile 7 - 14:28
Mile 8 - 9:06
Mile 9 - 9:45
Mile 10 - 10:11
Mile 11 - 10:44
Mile 12 - 10:44
Mile 13 - 11:22
Mile 13.3 - 3:45

for a total of 2:47:39.

I'm going to wear this t-shirt a lot.

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Today's race wasn't as tough as the Breck Crest, but it was on a deep gravel trail that was really inefficient. I personally saw more than 2 percent of finishers throwing up at the finish line (2 of 96).

It was notably warmer than expected, but Death Valley in December is actually pretty moderate.



My GPS shows a little more than 3,500 feet in elevation change counting the little hills. That seems really high given that it was kind of straight up and down. It's a new watch, so I need to figure it out. I assumed it would be closer to the 2,200 on the drawing.

My splits were:

Mile 1 - 12:40
Mile 2 - 13:49
Mile 3 - 15:44
Mile 4 - 15:21
Mile 5 - 14:53
Mile 6 - 15:08
Mile 7 - 14:28
Mile 8 - 9:06
Mile 9 - 9:45
Mile 10 - 10:11
Mile 11 - 10:44
Mile 12 - 10:44
Mile 13 - 11:22
Mile 13.3 - 3:45

for a total of 2:47:39.

I'm going to wear this t-shirt a lot.

Looks brutal! Any pics of the course? What watch are you using? I love my Garmin.

Started training today for my next 10k in January after I'd taken a few months off. I've started to think about targeting my first half in the spring at some point.

[scho63]

Doesn't Kansas have elevations like that?